Featured Publication

Title:

12-month-olds produce others' intended but unfulfilled acts

Authors:

Nielsen M.

Journal:

Infancy, 14, 377-389 (2009)

Following Meltzoff’s (1995) behavioral reenactment paradigm, this study investigated the ability of 12-month-olds (N = 44) to reproduce a model’s attemptedbut-failed actions on objects. Testing was conducted using a novel set of objects designed to enable young infants to readily identify the potential outcome of the model’s actions. Infants who saw an adult’s attempted-but-failed actions now produced her intended outcomes at an equivalent rate to infants who saw the model’s completed acts, and significantly more so than infants who either observed an adult manipulating the test apparatus using nontarget actions or who did not see any actions demonstrated on the test apparatus. This result shows that, contrary to previous studies, 12-month-olds can produce the intended but unconsummated acts of others.